


"Hold still."

by yikesola



Series: tumblr ficlet prompts [6]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2017, Established Relationship, Fluff, Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 07:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19719055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yikesola/pseuds/yikesola
Summary: Dan's going to do his usual liveshow later and he’s equal parts excited and terrified for the speeding comment section that he’s only too adept at reading.A ficlet about gender roles and shaky hands.





	"Hold still."

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue Prompt: "Hold still."

“You’re getting it all over my skin, Phil!” Dan says as he yanks his hand out of Phil’s grasp and inspects the freshly painted nail of his index finger. It’s a right mess. There’s just as much nail polish on the skin around his nail as there is on the nail itself. 

“I’ll clean it up,” Phil says, pulling Dan’s hand back, “It’s not done yet!” They’re sat cross-legged on the floor with the two bottles of nail polish on the coffee table beside them. 

“Mr. I-Got-An-A-Level-In-Art over here…” Dan teases as Phil moves on to his middle finger, changing to the lighter brighter yellow. 

“It’ll look great.” He uncrosses one of his legs to place Dan’s hand on his bent knee, using it like a table. 

Dan laughs. For all the teasing, he knew it wasn’t going to come out looking perfect. And hell, it’s not exactly any better than it’d come out looking it he had done it himself. But he’s still gonna give Phil a hard time because his nerves are starting to take over. 

He’s going to do his usual liveshow later and he’s equal parts excited and terrified for the speeding comment section that he’s only too adept at reading. But the comment section isn’t exactly what it used to be, a few years back. 

Sure, there are a few things said that make his stomach twist and which he has to force his face to stay neutral for after he’s read, but that’s just what working on the internet is in this world where the benefit of anonymity can be so easily abused. And there aren’t as many bad comments as there used to be. Not as many saying “GAY!” or “is Phan real??!” or “you and phil should kiss!!!!!” over and over and over again, sometimes more explicit, sometimes less so. One scratch of a fork on a dinner plate is unpleasant, but bearable. A cacophony of forks scratching dinner plates— endlessly, unyieldingly— is agony. 

Thankfully, _thankfully_ , those comments nowadays get buried and drowned out by much kinder ones, comments that are why he’s excited to be doing this at all. Comments discussing whatever it is he’s actually talking about, genuinely nice comments that make him blush a little when he reads them, someone saying they met a best friend or fell in love in some way because of his and Phil’s videos. Comments like those are why he’s doing any of this, right? Why he wanted to be some form of entertainer? The different intricate levels of human connection, or some such bullshit. 

It all gets more complicated when he throws in an element like this, when he does something not strictly abiding by gender rolls for his assumed heterosexuality. 

Like when he wore the leftovers of the pastel edits video to his liveshow and had to go into a full takedown of why things can’t look like a sexuality all because a comment called the wig and flower crown gay. 

Maybe this won’t be as big of a deal, he thinks. Maybe it’ll be a passing mention and he’ll move on to talking about Young Minds and hinting at tomorrow’s video. 

Fuck, his stomach twists when he remembers tomorrow’s video… he’s ready, and he thinks it’s quite good, and he wants to be open about what an effect depression has had on his life. But it’s a lot. It’s a lot to be so fucking vulnerable. 

“Danny,” Phil tuts. “Hold still.” He’s switched back to the coconut yellow for Dan’s ring finger. Each nail is as messily painted as the last. 

Dan has to laugh, not unkindly, at the idea that they’re a mess because he wasn’t holding still. But when he does laugh, Phil’s bent leg moves to kick his ribs lightly. Dan moves to dodge the kick and Phil leaves a streak of pale yellow nail polish along the line of Dan’s finger and onto his knuckles. 

“That’s not my fault,” Phil says, “I can paint them neatly, I _can_ , but you gotta hold still!”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading— come say hi on [tumblr](http://yikesola.tumblr.com/post/186125723244/hold-still) !


End file.
